Tool holder



Nov. 24, 1964 F. J. A. MOULIN 3,158,411

TOOL HOLDER Filed May 28, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l I l g.

INVENTOE -wm v m FLORIMQND J- A. MOULIN Y BY 07 4/6.

F. J. A. MOULIN TOOL HOLDER Nov. 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1962 United States Patent 3,158,411 T0111. HQLDER iorimond .I. A. Moulin, 260 White Road, Duncan,

British Columbia, Canada Fiied May 28, 1962, Ser. No. 198,341

7 Claims. (Cl. 386-29) This invention relates to a device for holding many different types of tools, such as mops, brushes, saws, rakes, hoes, dusters and the like.

The term tools as used herein is intended to include articles for doing various jobs, and so mops, clusters and the like are considered to be tools. Most tools require a handle for operation, some requiring a handle at all times, such as a saw, and others requiring a handle at certain times in order to enable the operator to reach places at a distance from him. Most tools have handles of their own. This means that a person who requires many different tools has to pay for and store the many different handles thereof. This is relatively costly, and it is not always convenient to find space for a lot of handles, and particularly long handles.

The present tool holder is designed removably to grip any of a plurality of difierent tools. It includes gripping jaws and means for quickly opening and closing said jaws to grip various tools. As some tools require jaws of different shapes, several pairs of jaws may be provided with each holder to enable the latter to be used with said tools. These jaws are relatively small and inexpensive.

A tool holder according to the present invention includes a socket with a shank therein and extending longitudinally thereof. The shank is provided with a head near the socket opening which has a working surface facing into the socket. Apair of opposed girpping jaws have inner ends enclosing this head and shaped slidably to fit in the socket. Securing means on the inner ends of the jaws removably engage the working surface of the shank head, and a pressure plate slidably mounted on the shank is urged by resilient means against the pressure plate to press the jaw securing means against the shank head. Suitable operating means is connected to the shank to move the head thereof into and out of the socket, said jaws moving with the head. These jaws are shaped so as to close when drawn inwardly relative to the socket to grip a tool and to open when moved in the opposite direction under the action of the pressure plate against the inner ends thereof.

Examples of this invention are illustrated in the accompartying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a preferred form of tool holder,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the holder taken substantially at right angles to FIGURE 1, with th jaws in the closed or gripping position,

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 with the jaws in the open position,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the holder socket with the shank projecting outwardly therefrom, and including a portion of the inner end of a jaw located near the shank head,

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of an alternative form of tool holder,

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of the holder taken at right angles to the view of FIGURE 6,

FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 are perspective views of different tools that may be used with the present holder, and

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of alternative jaws and a mop to be gripped thereby.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 5 of the drawings, 10 is a preferred tool holder including a socket 11 having a closing wall 12 at one end thereof and an opening 1'5 at its opposite end, the socket at said opening preferably flaring outwardly as at 14. A shank 18 extends longitudinally of socket 11 and slidably extends through wall 12 thereof. The portion of the shank extending through and beyond wall 11 is formed with threads 20. A head 22 is formed on the opposite end of shank 18 and is normally positioned near socket opening 14. This head is shaped to fit into socket 11 and has opposite side edges 23 and 24 which are spaced inwardly from adjacent portions of the socket wall. The head is also formed with a Working surface 26 facing into the socket, and this surface is preferably formed with recesses 28 therein on opposite sides of shank 18.

A pressure plate 30 is slidably mounted on shank 18 and is urged towards head 22 by suitable resilient means, such as a coil spring 31 mounted on the shankand extending between said plate and the inner end or wall 12 of socket 11.

A pair of identical opposed jaws 34 are provided for tool 111. Each jaw has an inner end 36 shaped to fit into socket 11 between a side edge of head 22 and the adjacent wall of the socket,.see FIGURES 2 and 3. The opposite end 37 of each jaw curves outwardly and inwardly again, and has gripping teeth 38 along its free end facing the gripping teeth of the other jaw. The jaw inner end 36 has side walls 49 and 41 that overlap shank head 22, and these walls extend outwardly iri a longitudinal direction from the jaw to form cams 44. Each cam 44 has a curved outer end 45 and a surface. 46 that inclines downwardly and outwardly from said curved end.

Each of the paws 34 has a transverse flange 48 on its walls 46 and 41. The flanges 48 of the jaws extend inwardly over surface 26 of the shank head when the inner ends of the jaws fit into socket 11.

Suitable operating means is provided formoving shank 18 and its head 22 into and out of socket 11. In this example, the operating means comprises a handle 51 having a nut 52. secured to oneend thereof, said nut beingthreaded on the outer end of shank 18. Nut 52 is preferably positioned within handle 51, and the latter is provided with a bore 54 into which the shank slidably extends.

Whenever it is desired to grip a tool, handle 51 is turned to permit the shank head 22 to move towards opening 13 of socket 11. Jaws 34 are located on opposite sides of head 22 with the flanges48 thereof overlapping the working surface 26 of said head, and pressure plate 30 bears against the inner ends of said jaws to press transverseflanges 48 against the head. When said head is at the socket opening 13, plate 31) pressing against cams 44 cause jaws 34 to swing outwardly, as shown in FIGURE 3. At this time, flanges 48 fit into the head recesses 28, while the jaws are retained against the head by the adjacent walls of the socket. The inclined surfaces 46 of cams 44 bear against surface 26 of the shank head to limit the outward movement of the jaws. When a desired tool is placed between the open jaws 34, handle 51 is rotated to cause nut 52 to draw shank 18 inwardly of the socket, thereby moving head 22 and the jaws connected thereto inthe .same direction. jaws are drawn into the socket, the walls of said socket press the jaws toward each other until they assume the gripping position shown in FIGURE 2. At this time,

earns 44 swing upwardly to press plate 30 upwardly against the pressure of spring 31.

To release the tool it is only necessary to rotate handle 51 in the opposite direction, allowing head 22 to move i outwardly relative to the socket, at which time the pressure plate bearing against earns 44 swing the jaws out- As the inner ends of the j at which time it is only necessary to draw the jaws outwardly from beneath plate away from each other and away from head 22.

If desired, the sides of jaws 34 may be provided with opposing notches 58 so that a handle element of a tool may be inserted therein extending across the jaws as said jaws are closed for gripping purposes.

FIGURES 6 and 7 illustrate a tool holder 10a which is slightly different from holder 10 of FIGURES 1 to 5. In tool 10a, handle 51 has been omitted, and a wing nut 62 is threaded on to the end of shank 18 outside of socket 11. This nut may be turned in either direction to move the shank relative to socket 11. An alternative form of handle 65 is provided. This handle has a nut 66 secured thereto in an opening 67 for-med in an end thereof. The nut is threaded on to a bolt 69 that extends outwardly from the handle and is swingably mounted at its outer end on a pin 70 carried by a pair of spaced plates 72 which are fixedly secured to socket l1 and project outwardly therefrom. Plates 72 are formed with curved outer edges 74 having notches 75 therein. The centre of the curves of these edges coincide with the centre of rotation of bolt 69. A connector 78 is slidably mounted on bolt 69 and has one or more dogs 80 formed thereon and projecting outwardly therefrom for releasably engaging notches 75, as clearly shown in FIGURE 6.

Handle 65 is swingable relative to socket 11 and plates 72. The handle and nut 66 are rotated to permit the dogs 80 of connector 78 to clear notches 75 of plates 72, and then it is rotated to a desired angle to socket 11. When the new position is reached, the handle is rotated to cause nut 66 to press dogs 80 into selected notches of plates 72, at which time the handle becomes fixed relative to socket 11 at a selected angle relative thereto. This arrangement makes it possible to set the handle of the holder at different angles relative to the socket and jaws thereof.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a brush having a handle element 86 projecting outwardly from an end thereof. When it is desired to use brush 85, element 86 thereof is gripped by jaws 34 of either holder 19 or 10m. At this time, handle 51 or 65 becomes the working handle of the brush.

FIGURE 9 illustrates a saw 89 having a handle element 90 projecting outwardly from an end thereof which is adapted to be gripped by the jaws 34 of a holder. One of the particular advantages of this arrangement follows from the fact that either handle 51 or 65 may be relatively long so that saw 89 may be used to cut things at posit-ions remote from the operator, such as, for example, when it is desired to cut a branch high up in a tree.

FIGURE 10 shows a rake 93 having a handle element 94 projecting therefrom adapted to be gripped by the jaws of the tool holder.

FIGURE 11 illustrates an alternative pair of jaws to be used with either holder 10 or 10a. Each jaw 98 has an inner end-99 shaped the same as the inner ends of jaws 34 described above. These inner ends slidably fit into socket 11. Each jaw 98 is formed with an elongated gripping portion 100 at its outer end which extends across and substantially at right angles to the jaw end 99. Gripping portion 100 is preferably semi-circular in cross section, as indicated at 102, and has gripping teeth 103 along a lower edge thereof which oppose the teeth of the corresponding gripping portion of the other jaw.

The operation of jaws 98 relative to socket 11 is exactly the same as explained above in connection with jaws 34. The only difference is that jaws 98 have the elongated gripping portions 100 which are adapted to grip a relatively wide tool or article, such as a mop head 195.

FIGURES 8 to 10 serve to illustrate how'the present holder may be used with many different forms of tools for different purposes. FIGURE 11 shows how the gripping jaws of the holder may be made in different shapes for gripping different types of tools. Jaws 98 may be used to grip mop head 105, or they may be used to grip a duster which is bunched up for dusting purposes so that a person can reach places by means of the relatively long handle of the holder.

What I claim is:

1. A tool holder comprising a socket having an outwardly flaring outer end, a shank extending longitudinally of the socket, a head on the shank near the opening of the socket and having a working surface facing into the socket, a pair of opposed gripping jaws having inner ends enclosing said head and shaped slidably to fit in the socket, securing means on the inner ends of the jaws removably engaging said working surface, cam surfaces on the inner ends of the jaws, a pressure plate sl-idably mounted on the shank, resilient pressure means urging the pressure plate against the jaw cam surfaces to press the jaw securing means against the shank head thereby tending to press said head outwardly of the socket, and operating means connected to the shank operable to move the head thereof into the socket and to permit said pressure means to move the head outwardly relative to the socket, said jaws being shaped so as to close when drawn inwardly relative to the socket to grip a tool, and the action of the pressure plate against said cam surfaces under the influence of the pressure means forcing the jaws apart in the flaring outer end of the socket as said jaws are moved outwardly when the operating means is operated to permit the shank head to move outwardly.

2. A tool holder as claimed in claim 1 in which the end of the shank remote from the head thereof is threaded and extends out of the socket, and the operating means comprises a handle having a nut secured to an end thereof and threaded on the shank outside the socket, said nut bearing against the adjacent socket, said handle having an opening therein into which the part of the shank extending through the nut extends, whereby rotating of the handle and the nut secured thereto moves said shank relative to the socket.

3. A tool holder as claimed in claim 1 in which the fixedly secured to the socket and projecting outwardly therefrom, said plate having a curved notched edge, a bolt having an end swingably connected to said plate at the centre of curvature of the curved edge thereof, a connector slidably mounted on the bolt and having a dog thereon for releasably engaging the plate edge notches, and a nut secured to the handle and threaded on the bolt,

.Whereby the handle and nut may be turned to press against the connector to cause the dog thereof to engage a selected notch in the plate edge.

5. A tool holder comprising a socket having an outwardly flaring outer end, a shank extending longitudinally of the socket, a head on the shank near the opening of the socket and having a working surface facing into the socket, recesses formed in said working surface, a

pair of opposed gripping jaws having inner ends enclosing said head and shaped slidably to fit in the socket, flanges on the inner ends of the jaws overlapping the head working surface and extending ino the recesses thereof, cam surfaces on the inner ends of the jaws, a. pressure plate slidably mounted on the shank, resilient pressure means urging the pressure plate against the jaw cam sur faces to press the jaw flanges against the shank head thereby tending to press said head outwardly of the socket, and operating means connected to the shank operable to move the head thereof into the socket and to permit said pressure means to move the head outwardly relative to the socket, said jaws being shaped so as to close when drawn inwardly relative to the socket to grip a tool, and the action of the pressure plate against said cam surfaces under the infiuence of the pressure means forcing the jaws apart in the flaring outer end of the socket as said jaws are moved outwardly when the operating means is operated to permit the shank head to move outwardly, said jaw flanges remaining in said recesses while the inner ends of the jaws remain in the socket and being removable from the recesses When the jaw ends clear the socket.

6. A tool holder as claimed in claim 5 in which the cam surfaces of each jaw comprise side walls overlapping the sides of the shank head, each of said walls extending longitudinally away from the jaw and having a curved outer end and a surface inclining towards the jaw and outwardly of the said curved end, whereby said pressure plate bears against said inclined surfaces of the jaw side walls when the jaws are fully spread apart firmly to retain said jaws in this position.

7. A tool holder as claimed in claim 5 in which the Reierences Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 609,478 Sturgis Aug. 23, 1898 649,785 Vi/einert May 15, 1900 804,229 Hutchinson Nov. 14, 1905 837,225 Holman Nov. 27, 1906 1,561,812 White Nov. 17, 1925 2,026,778 Dumble Jan. 7, 1936 

1. A TOOL HOLDER COMPRISING A SOCKET HAVING AN OUTWARDLY FLARING OUTER END, A SHANK EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF THE SOCKET, A HEAD ON THE SHANK NEAR THE OPENING OF THE SOCKET AND HAVING A WORKING SURFACE FACING INTO THE SOCKET, A PAIR OF OPPOSED GRIPPING JAWS HAVING INNER ENDS ENCLOSING SAID HEAD AND SHAPED SLIDABLY TO FIT IN THE SOCKET, SECURING MEANS ON THE INNER ENDS OF THE JAWS REMOVABLY ENGAGING SAID WORKING SURFACE, CAM SURFACES ON THE INNER ENDS OF THE JAWS, A PRESSURE PLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE SHANK, RESILIENT PRESSURE MEANS URGING THE PRESSURE PLATE AGAINST THE JAW CAM SURFACES TO PRESS THE JAW SECURING MEANS AGAINST THE SHANK HEAD THEREBY 